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The document examines the relationship between environmental justice and the success of conservation strategies, specifically Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES). It argues that ignoring social dimensions—such as distributive equity, recognition of rights, and inclusive decision-making—increases the risk of project failure through social conflict and sabotage, whereas integrating these criteria improves ecological outcomes and long-term efficiency.

The 2015 IGF Annual General Meeting in Geneva brought together over 230 participants to discuss the integration of environmental, social, and economic planning into the mine life cycle. Key discussions centered on the necessity of early mine closure planning, the alignment of mining activities with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the challenges of financing reclamation. The meeting also presented pilot assessments of the Mining Policy Framework (MPF) in the Dominican Republic, Uganda, and Madagascar, highlighting gaps in socioeconomic benefit optimization and post-mining transition laws.

The document outlines a framework for mainstreaming climate change adaptation by combining stakeholder engagement with quantitative spatial modelling. Using the 'Farms to Regions' (F2R) project in Eastern Ontario as a case study, it describes a process of identifying regional drivers, developing qualitative and quantitative scenarios (including a Business-As-Usual baseline), and simulating these futures using the Envision modelling platform. The guide emphasizes the use of integrated decision units (IDUs) to map impacts on farm income and environmental services, providing a toolkit for planners to evaluate trade-offs and develop robust adaptation strategies.

The Ogiek Bio-Cultural Community Protocol (BCP) serves as a community-determined framework to protect the rights and traditional knowledge of the Ogiek, an indigenous hunter-gatherer group in Kenya. It documents their unique relationship with the Mau Forest Complex, detailing their eco-climatic zoning system, traditional medicinal knowledge, and sustainable honey-harvesting practices. The protocol outlines the challenges the community faces, including forced evictions, forest degradation from logging and charcoal burning, and cultural erosion. It establishes a community agreement based on national and international law, demanding Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) for development projects and equitable Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) for the use of their resources. The document also defines a traditional governance structure led by a Council of Elders and proposes a land management system divided into biodiversity conservation, rehabilitation, and settlement zones.

The SEI Initiative on the Water, Energy and Food Nexus aims to improve sustainable development by formalizing the interdependencies between water, energy, and agriculture. The initiative is structured around three themes: governing the nexus, understanding the nexus, and implementing the nexus. To achieve this, SEI utilizes a 'nexus toolkit' combining the Water Evaluation and Planning (WEAP) system and the Long-range Energy Alternatives Planning (LEAP) system to quantify development paths and policy impacts. The initiative applies this framework to specific case studies: in Myanmar, it focuses on sustainable river basin development amidst a transition toward universal electricity access by 2030; in Zambia, it seeks to align conflicting sectoral targets in national policy frameworks; and in Colombia, it focuses on balancing sustainable development in the Rio Cravo Sur watershed within the Orinoco region.

The HASHI program in Tanzania's Shinyanga region restored 500,000 hectares of woodland by reviving 'ngitili', a traditional Sukuma practice of seasonal livestock enclosures. This effort reversed decades of desertification caused by cash-crop expansion and 'villagization' policies. Success was driven by a combination of traditional knowledge, decentralized governance, and long-term funding from the Norwegian Development Assistance Agency. While the program provided significant economic benefits and reduced workloads for women, it faces ongoing challenges from population growth, socioeconomic disparity in land ownership, and a lack of national monitoring systems.

Between 1920 and 1960, the southern United States experienced a net increase of 6 million hectares of forest cover through a combination of active planting and passive regeneration. This restoration was driven by economic benefits, crisis events like the Great Depression and severe soil erosion, and enabling conditions such as secure property rights and the decline of wood-fired energy. Key implementation tools included the Civilian Conservation Corps and the USDA's Soil Bank Program. However, the trend reversed in the 1970s as suburban expansion became the primary driver of forest conversion, and the region saw a shift toward productive planted forests, such as loblolly and slash pine plantations, which comprised about 20 percent of the total southern U.S. forest area by 2006.

The Asian elephant is vulnerable to climate change due to high freshwater requirements, sensitivity to extreme heat, and low adaptive capacity caused by habitat fragmentation and slow reproductive rates. While generalist feeding habits provide some resilience, the species faces significant threats from invasive plants, disease, and human-elephant conflict, which may be exacerbated by climate stressors. Recommended strategies include securing freshwater sources, maintaining connected habitats, and supporting human adaptation to reduce encroachment and conflict.

The WWF Nedbank Green Trust funds catalytic environmental projects in South Africa, offering up to R 3 million over three years for solutions that can scale to national impact. The Trust focuses on seven key areas: freshwater, marine, species of special concern, environmental leadership, outstanding places (Fynbos, Succulent Karoo, Grasslands, Maputaland Pondoland), community empowerment, and climate change. Applications are screened for innovation, transferability, and alignment with WWF-SA's strategic goals, with a strong preference for projects developed in partnership with WWF SA programme managers.

The report examines the tension between Mozambique's progressive legal frameworks, such as the 1997 Land Law, and a state tendency toward recentralization and the prioritization of extractive industries. While laws recognize customary land rights (DUAT), implementation is often hindered by bureaucratic hurdles, flawed community consultation processes, and legislation that gives mining operations priority over other land uses. The document highlights the failure of community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) initiatives like Tchuma Tchato due to lack of genuine power devolution and the negative social impacts of large-scale resettlement projects, such as those led by Vale in Tete Province.

The report examines the legal landscape for indigenous peoples and local communities in South Africa, highlighting a tension between constitutional human rights and state-led developmental interests. While frameworks like the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act (NEMBA) provide for benefit-sharing in bioprospecting, other sectors—particularly mining and large-scale infrastructure—often prioritize national interests over community rights. The document notes that the lack of a permanent communal land tenure regime and the 1913 cut-off date for land restitution significantly hinder the self-determination of groups like the Khoi-San. It concludes that while co-management models in protected areas exist, they often fail to decentralize power effectively.

The document maps the extensive legal landscape of international 'hard' and 'soft' law relevant to conservation, identifying over 30 categories of rights. It highlights a normative trend toward increasing recognition of Indigenous and local community rights within the CBD and IUCN frameworks, arguing that these standards must be distilled into accessible guides to prevent human rights violations, such as forced evictions, during the establishment of protected areas.

The 10YFP Programme on Sustainable Lifestyles and Education is a global initiative resulting from Rio+20, co-led by Japan, Sweden (via SEI), and WWF. It defines sustainable lifestyles as choices that "minimize environmental degradation" while supporting equitable development. The programme focuses on three main pillars: educating for sustainable lifestyles across formal and informal settings, developing and replicating low-carbon lifestyle scenarios, and promoting innovative and traditional models of sustainable living. Key objectives include building a common framework for understanding sustainable lifestyles, integrating these principles across society, and empowering individuals—particularly youth—through education and awareness. The programme is supported by a Multi-stakeholder Advisory Committee (MAC) and seeks to provide recommendations for policies, infrastructures, and business strategies that enable sustainable living, with a specific emphasis on urban spaces.

The paper examines the potential for mining to coexist with environmental preservation in Botswana's Okavango Delta. It highlights the economic pressure on Botswana to diversify away from declining diamond revenues by utilizing iron-ore, copper, and coal deposits. While acknowledging the environmental risks to the Delta—which is also threatened by upstream irrigation in Angola and Namibia, population growth, and poaching—the author suggests that mining companies can be allies in conservation. This is supported by the reputational risks associated with the Delta's World Heritage status and the regulatory oversight of the Toronto Stock Exchange and the International Finance Corporation. The document advocates for a governance model based on cooperation, land-use planning, and community engagement to ensure mining provides the capital and employment necessary to sustain the region's long-term ecological and tourism value.

The Responsible Alternative Fibers Assessment Methodology (RAFAM) is a risk-screening tool developed by WWF to identify environmental and social impacts of non-wood fiber crops. It employs a two-step process: an initial screening of 24 key issue areas followed by detailed additional guidance for any identified risks. The methodology covers site inventory, ecological integrity, environmental impacts, and social-political considerations, aiming to establish an aspirational benchmark for 'ideal' alternative fiber feedstocks that are renewable, legally sourced, and socially beneficial.

The New York Declaration on Forests Action Agenda provides a framework for governments, companies, indigenous peoples, and multilateral institutions to combat deforestation. It highlights significant progress, such as Brazil's 71% reduction in deforestation by 2013 and the adoption of zero-deforestation policies by major palm oil traders covering 60% of global trade. The agenda details specific roles for stakeholders, including the implementation of the Warsaw Framework for REDD+ and the commitment of indigenous peoples to protect 400 million hectares of forests. It also notes financial commitments from developed nations like Germany, Norway, and the UK to provide predictable REDD+ financing.

The document describes a social marketing 'Pride' campaign implemented by Pronatura Veracruz and Rare in the Central Coast of Veracruz, Mexico. The campaign aimed to motivate landowners to join a network of private conservation areas to protect tropical deciduous forest—critical for migratory raptors like the peregrine falcon—against threats from urban development, cattle ranching, and sugar cane production. In the Actopan municipality, where adoption of Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) had previously been slow, these methods enabled the protection of over 1,500 hectares of previously unprotected forest.

The 'Pride' campaign, a collaboration between Rare and Cáritas-Peru in the Quanda Watershed, used social marketing to align incentives between upstream farmers and downstream water users. This effort led to the creation of Reciprocal Water Agreements, where downstream users provide in-kind compensation—such as beekeeping equipment or fencing—to upstream farmers who protect riparian forests. The initiative resulted in 25 signed contracts protecting over 360 hectares of forest.

The document expresses disappointment over the removal of Pericopsis elata (Afrormosia) from the CITES Review of Significant Trade for the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). It argues that the DRC continues to disregard CITES norms, with an estimated ninety percent of timber harvested being "illegal or informal" and actual harvests reaching "eight times the official harvest." The authors claim the DRC's May 2014 non-detriment finding (NDF) is insufficient, lacking a scientific basis for export quotas and failing to address widespread corruption and the use of falsified permits. The document highlights that the DRC is rated as one of the "two most problematic countries in Africa for illegal exploitation of natural resources" and requests a comprehensive review and suspension of trade in all CITES-listed plants and animals from the DRC until compliance is guaranteed.

The document examines the legal obligations of conservation actors under international human rights law, arguing that while States are primary duty-bearers, international organizations, businesses, and NGOs also bear responsibilities to respect human rights based on customary law or social licenses to operate.